FAC Targetting Pod

[deathjester]

I swear I have all my best ideas on the toilet...

There I was, In a...contemplative mood, when the thought came to me of a modern day version of the Air Observation Post, and how you would accomplish such a thing.

Well, it came to me that, if you have a pod, containing a Laser Designator, a GPS system, and a Gyro Compass, you could tie them all together and use them in the following way:

Spotting the target, you check the range to it - now you know the range and bearing relative to your aircraft.

Using the GPS, you know where your aircraft is.

Now, cross reference the target range, bearing, and your own position, and you know where the target is in real time, relative to your aircraft.  You can now datalink that info to artillery batteries, or GPS guided weapon equipped tactical aircraft.

Discuss!!

[eatthis]

some would say i leave my best ideas IN the toilet 

[PR19_Kit]

Isn't that pretty much what they do, or did, now?

Albeit with a much bigger package, like a whole aircraft. The Buccaneers the RAF used to target spot for the Tornados in the Gulf War I did pretty much that. Or are you suggesting that an all-inclusive pod like yours could be hung on anything that could fly and do the same job with present day miniaturisation?

[Mossie]

That sounds to me similar to the systems mounted on Predator.  I'm assuming it could be used for artillery spotting or target designation for aircraft, although with the MQ-1 they decided to cut out the middle man and arm it.

[kerick]

This technology has been around for a while. The US Army had a ground mounted laser designator that would give coordinates of a lased target once you punched in its own coordinates and aligned it to north. This was back in the early 90s. The Navy had a system for remotely piloted aircraft that gave coordinates of targets it viewed during the Gulf War. The trick is to get sensors to talk to the computers and to talk to the weapons. Plus get half the people out of the chain of command so that the pilot can get permission to fire before the target drives away.

[deathjester]

Isn't that pretty much what they do, or did, now?

Albeit with a much bigger package, like a whole aircraft. The Buccaneers the RAF used to target spot for the Tornados in the Gulf War I did pretty much that. Or are you suggesting that an all-inclusive pod like yours could be hung on anything that could fly and do the same job with present day miniaturisation?

Yes, pretty much - as I said, a modern day take on the AOP aircraft the Army Air Corps used to have, principally to guide the fire of artillery batteries.